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Emperor Constantine founded the construction of the Byzantine capital. He named the capital after himself; Constantinople. The capital city was finished in 337 AC.
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The Hagia Sophia,is the biggest church constructed by the East Roman Empire in Istanbul. It has been constructed three times in the same location. When it was first built, it was named Megale Ekklesia (Big Church); however, after the fifth century, it was referred to as the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom). The church was the place in which rulers were crowned, and it was also the biggest operational cathedral in the city throughout the Byzantine period.
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Justinian was in the middle of trying to make peace with the Persians in the east simply to reduce government expenditure. Justinian declared that a chariot race would happen. He wanted to kill two people and the rich and poor got very mad. The angry mob of both the Blues and Greens responded by demanding that the two men be pardoned entirely. When the two factions arrived at the Hippodrome for the races, they became mad and resulted into major violence.
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Belisarius was not so successful in this campaign, and was relieved of his command in 548 AD. Belisarius’ last military campaign was in 559 AD, when the Bulgars attempted to invade the Byzantine Empire.
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In one of the few Muslim naval victories in the entire history of Islam, Muslim forces under the command of Uthman bin Affan defeat Byzantine forces under Emperor Constant II. The battle takes place off the coast of Lycia and is an important stage in the decline of Byzantine power.
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Constantinople under Basil II completely conquered Bulgaria in 1018 as a result of the 1014 Battle of Kleidion. There were rebellions against Byzantine rule from 1040 to 1041, and in the 1070s and the 1080s, but these failed. In 1185, however, Theodore Peter and Ivan Asen started a revolt, and the weakening Byzantine Empire, facing internal dynastic troubles of its own, was unable to prevent the revolt from being successful.
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When the Turks then threatened to invade the Byzantine Empire and take Constantinople, Byzantine Emperor Alexius I made a special appeal to Urban for help. This was not the first appeal of its kind, but it came at an important time for Urban. Wanting to reinforce the power of the papacy, Urban seized the opportunity to unite Christian Europe under him as he fought to take back the Holy Land from the Turks.
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Pope Innocent III called for another crusade, sending out a group of vowed crusade French men to capture the Port of Zara from the King of Hungary whom was under crusade vows, gaining them passage. The Pope Innocent III excommunicated the Venetian and forbade an attack on Byzantium. Afterwards Constantinople was under the new rule of Alexius IV. During his rule he sent out the Crusaders and in response they retook Constantinople.
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When two popes, and later three popes, vied for supremacy, the medieval church entered a dramatic, forty-year crisis of authority.
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The Fall of Constantinople marks the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of a new epoch in Europe. Many Greek scholars moved to Italy, initiating there the development of European Humanism, while the legal succession of Byzantium and leadership of the Orthodox Church transferred to Tsardom in Moscow.
